Turkish–British relations in the 1930s: from ambivalence to partnership

ABSTRACT

This article seeks to explain how Britain and Turkey established a partnership in the second half of the 1930s despite the fact that they failed to agree upon a common rival to stand against. The prevailing International Relations literature highlights the existence of a common enemy as an essential component of alliance formation in world politics. The paradox underlying the British–Turkish partnership was the absence of a common enemy, since Britain was mainly disturbed by the revisionist policies of Germany, while Turkey was threatened by Italy's aggressive policy over the Mediterranean. In this respect, the article will first discuss how the academic literature explains the essential components of alliance formation in international relations. The second section will discuss in detail how British and Turkish threat perceptions diverged emphasizing the lack of a common rival. The final section will discuss how a bilateral partnership was successfully forged despite the absence of a common rival. Overall, the article argues that Britain and Turkey formed a partnership without a common enemy, as they shared a common fear of abandonment, i.e. the fear of losing an actual or a potential ally to an enemy.

KEYWORDS:

• Foreign policy
• Turkey
• Britain

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Didem Buhari Gülmez for copyediting the manuscript and two anonymous reviewers for their invaluable feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. A. Türkkaya, ‘Turkish Foreign Policy: 1923–1938’, Turkish Yearbook of International Relations Vol.2 (1961), pp.103–14; İ. Uzgel and Ö. Kürkçüoğlu, Batı Avrupa'yla İlişkiler [Relations with Western Europe] in B. Oran (ed.), Türk Dış Politikası: Kurtuluş Savaşından Bugüne Olgular, Belgeler, Yorumlar [Turkish Foreign Policy: Events, Documents, Comments from the Independence War to the Present] (Istanbul: İletişim, 2001), p.271; D. Barlas, ‘Friends or Foes? Diplomatic Relations between Italy and Turkey, 1923–1936’, International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol.36 (2004), p.247; W. Hale, Turkish Foreign Policy: 1774–-2000 (3rd ed, London: Frank Cass, 2013), pp.47–8; M. Gönlübol and C. Sar, Atatürk ve Türkiye'nin Dış Politikası (1919--1938) [Atatürk and Turkish Foreign Policy (1919-–1938)] (3rd ed, Ankara: Atatürk Research Centre, 2013), p.130.

2. D. Barlas, Etatism and Diplomacy in Turkey, 1929–1939: Economic and Foreign Policy Strategies in an Uncertain World (Leiden: Brill, 1998).

3. Hale, Turkish Foreign Policy, p.47; S.B. Gülmez, ‘Turkish Foreign Policy as an Anomaly: Revisionism and Irredentism Through Diplomacy in the 1930s’, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Vol.44 (2017), p.42.

4. K.N. Waltz, ‘The Stability of a Bipolar World’, Daedalus Vol.93 (1964), pp.882–5; J.S. Levy, ‘Alliance Formation and War Behavior: An Analysis of the Great Powers, 1495–1975’, The Journal of Conflict Resolution Vol.25 (1981), p.583; G.H. Snyder, ‘The Security Dilemma in Alliance Politics’, World Politics Vol.36 (1984), p.466; S.M. Walt, ‘Alliance Formation and the Balance of World Power’, International Security Vol.9 (1985), p.8–9.

5. Levy, ‘Alliance Formation and War Behavior’, p.583.

6. Q. Wright, A Study of War (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965), p.773; Levy (1981), p.583.

7. Levy ‘Alliance Formation and War Behavior’, p.583.

8. Ibid.

9. Walt, ‘Alliance Formation and the Balance of World Power’, pp.8–9.

10. Ibid.

11. Ibid., p.9.

12. Ibid., p.10.

13. Ibid., pp.13–4.

14. Waltz, ‘The Stability of a Bipolar World’, pp.882–5.

15. Walt, ‘Alliance Formation and the Balance of World Power’, pp.13–4.

16. Waltz, ‘The Stability of a Bipolar World’, p.883.

17. Ibid., p.884.

18. Snyder, ‘The Security Dilemma in Alliance Politics’, p.466.

19. Ibid., p.467.

20. R.L. Schweller, ‘Bandwagoning for Profit: Bringing the Revisionist State Back In’, International Security Vol.19 (1994), pp.94–102.

21. Waltz, ‘The Stability of a Bipolar World’; Walt, ‘Alliance Formation and the Balance of World Power’.

22. Waltz, ‘The Stability of a Bipolar World’.

23. P.M. Kennedy, Strategy and Diplomacy, 1870--1945 (London: Allen and Unwin, 1983), pp.99–100; R.L. Schweller, Deadly Imbalances: Tripolarity and Hitler's Strategy of World Conquest (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998), pp.28–31.

24. R.J. Young, France and the Origins of the Second World War (London: Macmillan, 1996), p.28.

25. L.S. Skålnes, ‘Grand Strategy and Foreign Economic Policy: British Grand Strategy in the 1930s’, World Politics Vol.50 (1998), p.593.

26. Ibid.

27. N.M. Lipsman and J.S. Levy, ‘Wishful Thinking or Buying Time? The Logic of British Appeasement in the 1930s’, International Security Vol.33 (2008), p.150.

28. Ibid., p.159.

29. P.M. Kennedy, ‘The Tradition of Appeasement in British Foreign Policy 1865–1939’, British Journal of International Studies Vol.2 (1976), p.195.

30. N.M. Lipsman and J.S. Levy, ‘The Preventive War that Never Happened: Britain, France, and the Rise of Germany in the 1930s’, Security Studies Vol.16 (2007), p.55.

31. Ibid., p.58.

32. Gönlübol and Sar, Atatürk ve Türkiye'nin Dış Politikası, p.138.

33. Lipsman and Levy ‘The Preventive War that Never Happened’, pp.38–40; Lipsman and Levy, ‘Wishful Thinking or Buying Time?’, p.150.

34. A. Wolfers, Britain and France between Two World Wars: Conflicting Strategies of Peace since Versailles (Hamden: Archon, 1963), p.221; M. Gilbert, The Roots of Appeasement (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1972), p.12.

35. M. Kibaroğlu and A. Kibaroğlu, Global Security Watch―Turkey: A Reference Handbook (London: Praeger Security International, 2009), p.33.

36. C. Layne, ‘Security Studies and the Use of History: Neville Chamberlain's Grand Strategy Revisited’, Security Studies Vol.17 (2008), pp.397–437.

37. R.A.C. Parker, ‘Great Britain, France and the Ethiopian Crisis 1935–1936’, The English Historical Review, Vol.89 (351), (1974), pp.293–332; M.L. Roi ‘From the Stresa Front to the Triple Entente: Sir Robert Vansittart, The Abyssinian Crisis and the Containment of Germany’, Diplomacy & Statecraft Vol.6 (1995), pp.61–90; Lipsman and Levy (2008), p.155. For the secret plan, see PRO 30/69/621, Abyssinian Dispute and Hoare-Laval Proposals, 10 December 1935.

38. B.R. Posen, The Sources of Military Doctrine: France, Britain and Germany between the World Wars (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1984), p.148.

39. Ibid.

40. A.J.P. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War (London: Hamilton, 1961), p.250.

41. Barlas, ‘Friends or Foes?’, p.231–2.

42. Ibid., p.232–42.

43. Ibid., p.232.

44. Ibid.

45. B. Millman, ‘Turkish Foreign and Strategic Policy, 1934–1942’, Middle Eastern Studies Vol.31 (1995), pp.483–508; Hale, Turkish Foreign Policy, p.45; Barlas, ‘Friends or Foes?’, p.231.

46. D. Barlas and S. Güvenç, ‘To Build a Navy with the Help of Adversary: Italian-Turkish Naval Arms Trade, 1929–32’, Middle Eastern Studies Vol.38 (2002), p.161; Barlas, ‘Friends or Foes?’, p.246.

47. S. Deringil, Turkish Foreign Policy during the Second World War: An ‘Active’ Neutrality (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), p.7

48. D. Barlas, ‘Turkish Diplomacy in the Balkans and the Mediterranean. Opportunities and Limits for Middle-Power Activism in the 1930s’, Journal of Contemporary History Vol.40 (2005), p.446.

49. BUSTA 11/1 1934, No. 2320/772 A.1/6, Italia e Turchia, Turchia ed Jugoslavia [Italy and Turkey, Turkey and Yugoslavia], 7 May 1934, p.1.

50. T.C. Başbakanlık Cumhuriyet Arşivleri [The Archives of Turkish Prime Ministry], ‘İtalya Büyükelçisi Mösyö Locaojono'nun ziyareti’ [The Visit of the Italian Ambassador Mr. Lojacono], D.2/964-218, 22 May 1934, p.3.

51. Ibid.

52. M.S. Bilgin and S. Morewood, ‘Turkey's Reliance on Britain: British Political and Diplomatic Support for Turkey against Soviet Demands, 1943–47’, Middle Eastern Studies Vol.40 (2004), pp.24–57.

53. Gönlübol and Sar, Atatürk ve Türkiye'nin Dış Politikası, p.128.

54. FO 1011/174, Drummond to Vansittart, 21 December 1934.

55. Gülmez, ‘Turkish Foreign Policy as an Anomaly’, p.36–8.

56. FO 954/28A/49, Loraine to Eden, 12 April 1936, p.6.

57. FO 954/28A/89, Loraine to Eden, 24 February 1937, p.2.

58. This statement was denounced by the British as an ‘amazing amount of non-sense’ jeopardizing Turkish Foreign Minister's political credibility. See, FO 1011/186, Vansittart to Loraine, 1 December 1937, pp.1–2.

59. BUSTA 29/1939/1 A1.3, Rapporti italo-turchia [Italian Reports on Turkey], 4 May 1939, p.1.

60. BUSTA 29/1939/1, Reazioni turche all'azione italiana in Albania [Turkish reactions to Italian action in Albania], by Alberto Berio, 29 April 1939.

61. Ibid.

62. BUSTA 29/1939/1 A1.3, Rapporti italo-turchia [Italian reports on Turkey], 4 May 1939, p.1.

63. FO 954/28A/98, Loraine to Eden, 27 March 1937, p.1.

64. FO 954/28A/98, Loraine to Eden, 27 March 1937, p.1.

65. FO 1011/186, Loraine to Vansittart, 21 February 1937, p.5.

66. BUSTA 24/1938/1, Unione dell'Austria alla Germania – Ripercussioni in Turchia [Austrian--German Union: Repercussions on Turkey], 20 March 1938, p.1.

67. Millman, on the other hand, reflects a different account claiming that Turkey felt threatened by Nazi Germany which became more evident after the Anschluss and the annexation of Czechoslovakia. However, he fails to substantiate his claim with solid evidence. See Millman, ‘Turkish Foreign and Strategic Policy, 1934–1942’, pp.487–8.

68. C. Koçak, Türk-Alman İlişkileri (1923--1938) [Turkish--German Relations (1923--1938)] (2nd ed, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 2013), pp.108–10.

69. Ibid., p.108.

70. Ibid.

71. BUSTA 24/1938/1, Unione dell'Austria alla Germania – Ripercussioni in Turchia [Austrian-German union: Repercussions on Turkey], 20 March 1938, p.2.

72. Ibid.

73. Turkish irredentism was a popular phenomenon in the 1930s. Turkey's annexation of Hatay, formerly the Sanjak of Alexandretta, in 1939 is a chief example of irredentism in Turkish Foreign Policy. For a recent analysis on Turkish irredentism in Hatay, see Gülmez, ‘Turkish Foreign Policy as an Anomaly’, pp.38–40.

74. N. Nadi, ‘Asıl Dava’ [The Main Cause], Cumhuriyet, 15 March 1938, pp.1–3; Y. Nadi, ‘Avusturya'nın Almanyaya ilhakından sonra’ [After the Annexation of Austria by Germany], Cumhuriyet, 14 March 1938, p.1.; V. Nureddin, ‘Merhum Avusturya'nın tarihine bir kuşbakışı’ [A Bird's Eye View of the History of Defunct Austria], Akşam, 15 March 1938, p.3.

75. Gönlübol and Sar, Atatürk ve Türkiye'nin Dış Politikası, p.130.

76. FO 954/28A/49, Loraine to Eden, 12 April 1936, p.3.

77. FO 954/28A/49, Loraine to Eden, 12 April 1936, p.4.

78. FO 954/28A/49, Loraine to Eden, 12 April 1936, p.5.

79. FO 954/28A/49, Loraine to Eden, 12 April 1936, p.6.

80. F.C. Erkin, Dışişlerinde 34 Yıl: Anılar-Yorumlar [34 Years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Memories and Comments] (Vol.1, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1980), p.83.

81. FO 954/28A/49, Loraine to Eden, 12 April 1936, p.1.

82. Ibid.

83. Ibid.

84. Ibid.

85. Snyder, ‘The Security Dilemma in Alliance Politics’, p.466.

86. Posen, The Sources of Military Doctrine, p.143.

87. Hale, Turkish Foreign Policy, p.45.

88. FO E 854/854/44, Loraine to Simon, 20 June 1934, emphasis added; Otto Kienitz, ‘The Emerging Storm: Sir Percy Loraine and Anglo-Turkish Rapprochement, 1934–1935’, Penn History Review Vol.23 (2016), p.91.

89. PRO FO 371/19039, E 1213/1213/44, 10 February 1935; Barlas, ‘Friends or Foes?’, p.247.

90. CAB 24/263/41, Eastern Mediterranean: Understanding with Turkey and Greece, Memorandum by Committee of Imperial Defence, 29 July 1936, p.1.

91. CAB 24/263/41, Eastern Mediterranean: Understanding with Turkey and Greece, Memorandum by Committee of Imperial Defence, 29 July 1936, p.12.

92. FO 954/28A/57, Loraine to Eden, 8 May 1936, p.3.

93. Ibid.

94. Eden to Loraine, No.88 [E 2258/26/44], 28 April 1936, see W.N. Medlicott, D. Dakin, and M.E. Lambert, Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919--1939 Second Series: March 2–July 30, 1936 (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1977), p.676.

95. Ibid.

96. Barlas, ‘Friends or Foes?’, p.462.

97. Gönlübol and Sar, Atatürk ve Türkiye'nin Dış Politikası, p.130.

98. BUSTA 24 1937/1, a.1 visto dal duce, negoziati e accordo italo-britannico [The View of Il Duce, Negotiations and Italian--British Accord], 19 April 1937.

99. TBMM Zabıt Ceridesi [The Journal of Turkish Grand National Assembly], Term 5, Volume 15, Session 30, 29 January 1937.

100. A.Ş. Esmer, ‘Göring İtalya'da’ [Göring Visits Italy], Ulus, 17 January 1937, p.3.

101. M.F. Togay, ‘Müşterek emniyet sistemi’ [Collective Security System], Cumhuriyet, 7 January 1937, p.2.

102. Ibid.

103. A.Ş. Esmer, ‘İngiltere – İtalya Anlaşması’ [British--Italian Agreement], Ulus, 6 January 1937, p.3.

104. Ibid.

105. FO 1011/186, R 650/4/6, Sargent to Loraine, 4 February 1937.

106. Ibid.

107. Barlas, Etatism and Diplomacy in Turkey, p.190.

108. CAB 24/276/39, Memorandum by Halifax on credits for Turkey, 7 May 1938, 2.

109. Ibid.

110. Ibid.

111. S. Newman, March 1939: The British Guarantee to Poland: Study in the Continuity of British Foreign Policy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976), p.43–4; Skålnes, ‘Grand Strategy and Foreign Economic Policy, p.612.

112. G.R. Berridge, British Diplomacy in Turkey: 1583 to the Present; A Study in the Evolution of the Resident Embassy (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2009), p.167.

113. BUSTA 28/1, Rapporti Politici: Accordo Turco-Britannico [Political reports: Turkish--British Accord], 16 May 1939, p.5.

114. BUSTA 28/1, Rapporti Politici: Accordo Turco-Britannico [Political reports: Turkish--British Accord], 16 May 1939, p.2.

115. Barlas, Etatism and Diplomacy in Turkey, p.197.

116. Waltz, ‘The Stability of a Bipolar World’; Levy, ‘Alliance Formation and War Behavior’; Snyder, ‘The Security Dilemma in Alliance Politics’; Walt, ‘Alliance Formation and the Balance of World Power’.

117. Walt, ‘Alliance Formation and the Balance of World Power’, pp.13–4.

118. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War, p.177.

119. M. Muggeridge, Ciano's Diplomatic Papers (London: Odhams Press Limited, 1948), p.14.

120. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War, p.250.

121. Ibid.

122. Hale, Turkish Foreign Policy, p.47.

123. D. Barlas and Ş. Yılmaz, ‘Managing the Transition from Pax Britannica to Pax Americana: Turkey's Relations with Britain and the US in a Turbulent Era (1929–47)’, Turkish Studies Vol.17 (2016), p.451.

124. Levy, ‘Alliance Formation and War Behavior’, p.583.